Moving on
by melinda08
Summary: Josh comforts Reva as she tries to move on after Jeffrey's death


Reva was a woman letting go. She was letting go of the past, of Jeffrey y O'Neill, of the love they shared. He was gone and he was never coming back. He'd left her with a young son, Collin, and all she could do was walk around and look at his picture. It was as if she could will him back to life. Of all of the hardships she'd faced she'd overcome many impossible ones. There was no way he was gone. There was too much he had to live for- namely her and Collin.

She passed by a mirror and stopped and stared- she didn't recognize herself. She was a mess. Gone was the lively spitfire of Springfield. Instead a lonely widow walked the streets waiting for her miracle to happen. He promised her he would come home, and he never lied to her. She was so lonely. She cried herself to sleep. This wasn't the life she had planned for herself. All of her friends tried to get her to go on with her life, but she didn't listen to them. What did they know? They weren't left alone with a little baby to take care of on a day to day basis. A little baby- with no daddy to love. How could this have happened to her? This wasn't her life, talking to pictures, wandering around aimlessly. Cassie tried to talk to her but she didn't even listen to her own sister. There was no one that could get through to her.

One day Cassie, Billy and Josh knocked on her door. "What do you guys want?" she asked.

Cassie came in and picked up Collin.

"Get dressed, Reva, "Billy said.

"What for? There's no point."

"If you don't get dressed the three of us will dress you ourselves," Josh said sternly.

"The heck you will! How dare you come in my house and tell me what to do."

Josh looked at Billy. The two of them grabbed her by the arms and picked her up and took her upstairs. They removed her nightgown and threw on a dress. "Now brush your hair, sweetheart," Billy suggested.

"Where are you taking me? I can't leave Collin," Reva protested.

"Cassie is watching Collin. You're coming with me. Now through some shoes on. If you don't come with me you'll come with Billy and me. You can do this the easy way or the hard way. What will it be?" Josh asked.

Sighing, Reva realized she had no choice. Soon she kissed Collin goodbye and got in the car with Josh.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Soon it was very clear to Reva where they were going- Cross Creek.

"Oh Bud.. we haven't been here in years."

"I know. And it's high time we remedy that."

They walked over to the edge of the water, removed their shoes and dipped their feet in, sitting down next to each other. Reva leaned her head against Josh for a long time without saying a word. There were no need for words; the magic of "their" place spoke volumes.

"Why did we ever leave this place, Bud? Couldn't we have just stayed here forever and not ever faced the real world? Then none of our problems could have gotten to us," Reva sighed.

"That would have been nice. I don't think it works that way."

"It would have been you and me against the rest of the world…I was always so much stronger when you were beside me, you know," Reva said, taking Josh's hand.

"I don't know about that, you're a pretty tough lady by yourself."

"You know, when the lights go down and it's just me, I think about you. I think about what went wrong but I think mostly of the good times. I think about how we had everything. And I wonder if we could ever have it again. Do you ever wonder about it?" Reva looked him in the eyes.

Josh touched her face. "Sure I do. I think about it all the time. But you were married and I would never have interfered. I would never hurt you for anything, Reva."

"I'm not married anymore."

"No, I guess you're not."

The two looked in each other's eyes, wondering what to do next. Josh leaned forward and kissed Reva. The kisses started off slowly, then with all the pain Reva was in turned into fast and hungry kisses.

"Do you want to do this? I don't want to take advantage of you…"Josh started.

"Take advantage. Just take me, Bud. I need you. I want you. I want to feel again. Only you can do that," Reva said in between kisses.

Josh laid her on the ground and made love to her several times.

"So what does this mean?" Josh asked.

Reva smiled. "I hope it means it's the first of many more times to come. I need you in my life Josh Lewis. My life is empty without you in it. Say you'll stay with me."

Josh smiled. "I'll stay with you as long as you want me to"

As the two kissed, they both realized they had agreed to share the future with each other. Reva knew she could never forget Jeffrey, but it was time to move on. And Josh was there to help her pick up the pieces of her life. It wouldn't be easy, but with his help she could finally move on.


End file.
